Domestic Stress and Well-Being of Employed Women: Interplay Between Demands and Decision Control at Home

Abstract

Family researchers have suggested that shared decision control is important for coping with stressful demands at home, whereas occupational stress theorists view personal decision control as an essential coping resource. We studied the effects of home demands, personal decision control, and shared decision control at home on burnout and satisfaction with life, using Karasek's jobdemands-control model to gauge home stress and its outcomes. Participants were 133 mothers employed in secretarial and managerial jobs. We hypothesized that shared control would correlate more strongly with burnout and satisfaction with life than would personal control. In multiple regression analyses, demands had independent main effects on both outcomes. Shared control significantly predicted satisfaction with life, but not burnout, and personal control predicted neither. It is suggested that in families (as in teams), shared decision control may be a more potent coping resource than personal control.

Challenges, Strategies, and Gender Relations Among Parents of Children Recently Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes

“…This high complexity in women's everyday life can jeopardize their health (Erlandsson & Eklund, 2006) and render strategies dysfunctional because of feeling overloaded with responsibility. Shared decision control at home has been shown to be an essential coping resource influencing satisfaction with life for mothers while personal control was found to be a less potent coping factor (Kushnir, 2006). Moreover, Knafl and Zoeller (2000) have found a couple's shared view of confidence in managing the illness to be an important family strength.…”

The Experience of Self-Discovery and Mental Change in Female Novice Athletes in Connection to Marathon Running

“…For instance, a woman realizes she is "in a rut" and physically going through the motions each day, yet is mentally exhausted and dissatisfied with her life (Kushnir & Melamed, 2006). She is a stranger in her own skin.…”

Außerberuflicher Stress und kardiovaskuläre Erkrankungen

“…Die bisherigen Befunde deuten an, dass hohe Anforderungen bzw. geringe Kontrolle in der Haus-und Familienarbeit bei Frauen mit Burnout [40], einer schlechteren Einschätzung der subjektiven Gesundheit [41] sowie für beide Geschlechter mit Angst und Depression [42] verbunden sind. Auch das Ungleichgewicht von hoher Verausgabung und geringer Belohnung (Gratifikationskrise) in der reproduktiven Haus-und Familienarbeit war bei Frauen mit körperlichen und psychischen Symptomen verknüpft [43].…”